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What would you quote? Inside & out

Messages
21
Location
Benfleet
Hi all, any advice on best way to clean the inside of this conny? We are fine with the outside also what sort of price would you price it at? Outside roof & inside, gutters on conny & all windows inside & out with all plastics. Cheers guys

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Best way to do the inside is traditionally using step ladders, make sure they clear all ornaments etc off the sills, possibly take a bed sheet to save drips on the electricals. Where I live that's around a £100 job for me, sure other areas are higher though.

 
This would be 120 euro job in and out. People always lie about the size of their conservatory. Tiny, tiny, tiny. When you get there you cant believe your eyes. We charge 7.5 euro per panel in and out. Average dirt. If there is moss or anything else growing on the glass, i would go double that

The question i get from my customers is why do i charge 120 euro for 2 hours of work? That is 60 euro per hour. A solicitor fee. So i have to break it

-13.5% VAT

-diesel

-insurance

-pure water

-road tax, DOE & tires

-PRSI

-corporation tax

-tools maintenance

= very little

 
Inside and out we would be £250 that would include inside all the frames where the windows and doors open as well , polycarbonate roofs are quick and easy inside we would use a little giant steps/ladder for insides , if it was a glass roof price would be £350 + and yes we do get the vast majority that we price like this , I always tell the customers to phone Thomas Sanderson get them to give you a price and we will do it for half the price ,the cheapest I have ever known them quote is £1000 , people think we are expensive until they get a price from them then they want us to do the job as we are very reasonable , again where I am very few cleaners will do inside conservatory’s , I don’t  like doing them but if the money is right we will do any size , biggest one we did took two of us two days to do , unfortunately I was not allowed to take pictures as it was for a tv personality . 

 
This would be 120 euro job in and out. People always lie about the size of their conservatory. Tiny, tiny, tiny. When you get there you cant believe your eyes. We charge 7.5 euro per panel in and out. Average dirt. If there is moss or anything else growing on the glass, i would go double that

The question i get from my customers is why do i charge 120 euro for 2 hours of work? That is 60 euro per hour. A solicitor fee. So i have to break it

-13.5% VAT

-diesel

-insurance

-pure water

-road tax, DOE & tires

-PRSI

-corporation tax

-tools maintenance

= very little
I think it was on here that I read a good comment about the subject of how much is charged for a job. This persons view was that you're not charging for your time but you are charging for the job!!

Looking at the conservatory and saying to the customer that you can make it look like new again for example..... £160. The customer thinks that yes, that'll be great thank you. Then he sees that it only took you 3 ish hours ish to do the job. Is the customer then going to complain about the hourly rate? I always explain to my customers that I'm charging and quoting for what the job is worth and not an hourly rate. I've never had anyone query my prices regarding this subjet.

 
I think it was on here that I read a good comment about the subject of how much is charged for a job. This persons view was that you're not charging for your time but you are charging for the job!!

Looking at the conservatory and saying to the customer that you can make it look like new again for example..... £160. The customer thinks that yes, that'll be great thank you. Then he sees that it only took you 3 ish hours ish to do the job. Is the customer then going to complain about the hourly rate? I always explain to my customers that I'm charging and quoting for what the job is worth and not an hourly rate. I've never had anyone query my prices regarding this subjet.
Not to mention you cant do it during storm Ciara, storm Dennis, storm jorge, this is seasonal work. You have to rake it in while the goings good. Not to mention no pension or employment benefits

 
Not to mention you cant do it during storm Ciara, storm Dennis, storm jorge, this is seasonal work. You have to rake it in while the goings good. Not to mention no pension or employment benefits
Yes but you can't really say that to the customer. I wouldn't class a window cleaning  business as 'seasonal'  a professional window cleaning business is all year round. Customers should just appreciate what a good service we provide as we are almost supplying a luxury service to them, this is something they don't have to have to pay for unlike the usual day to day outgoings they have. ie........utitly bills, food, fuel, car etc. We should never undervalue ourselves either. I had one person say to me the other day that I shouldn't be earning more than £15 an hour. He is a painter/dercorator and also self employed like many others. I had to explain to him that if that was the case, and it takes me only 15 mins to clean a semi detached small house then I should only be charging £3.75. I think not! I charge between £12 - £15...... FOR THE JOB and not my time. Then he got it! 

 
Yes but you can't really say that to the customer. I wouldn't class a window cleaning  business as 'seasonal'  a professional window cleaning business is all year round. Customers should just appreciate what a good service we provide as we are almost supplying a luxury service to them, this is something they don't have to have to pay for unlike the usual day to day outgoings they have. ie........utitly bills, food, fuel, car etc. We should never undervalue ourselves either. I had one person say to me the other day that I shouldn't be earning more than £15 an hour. He is a painter/dercorator and also self employed like many others. I had to explain to him that if that was the case, and it takes me only 15 mins to clean a semi detached small house then I should only be charging £3.75. I think not! I charge between £12 - £15...... FOR THE JOB and not my time. Then he got it! 
I disagree with you there fella. I wouldn't say you have to operate all year round full time to be professional. Ive had days where the ladder is frozen solid, run off water freezing to the ground, Hoses and water freezing, and with the winds lately it has posed issues, conditions i personally deem unsafe or unpractical. But thats just how we run. Each to their own really. You cant go in til 5 oclock in december and january as its dark so the working day is reduced. Of course we work in all seasons but its far from every day of every season. Even in summer with some of the heatwaves we’ve had i’ll no longer go out if its approaching 30, i had heat exhaustion one year and collapsed on the landing was bed bound for a few days. We lost ten days in a row due to the beast from the east in 2018. So the income drops off. Same with ice cream cafes some of them are open all year round but youd bet they make a hell of a lot more between april & september.
Demand for service is also consistently poor for us this time of year. Every time the six nations is on the phone goes dead. in april/may/june the phones red hot. Peoples personal circumstances may dictate what hourly rate they wish to charge also, if you can only work half the week due to poor health or lets say, caring for a family member the other half of the week, you would want to earn your living in those say, 20 hours of the week. Or if youre single with no partner to have a second wage coming in. people compare window cleaners or tradesmen in general & stereotype, one quote is x, the other is Y the other is Z, they look at the three and wonder why. Competitor x could be a single 21 year old still living at home with parents, Y could be a guy with a 4 bedroom house, three kids & money disappearing as fast as they can earn it...Z Could be a semi retired person working for cash on the side of their pension. Some people need or want to earn more...& work less, or more hours, thats the beauty of self employment its supposed to be your own rules. 

 
I disagree with you there fella. I wouldn't say you have to operate all year round full time to be professional. Ive had days where the ladder is frozen solid, run off water freezing to the ground, Hoses and water freezing, and with the winds lately it has posed issues, conditions i personally deem unsafe or unpractical. But thats just how we run. Each to their own really. You cant go in til 5 oclock in december and january as its dark so the working day is reduced. Of course we work in all seasons but its far from every day of every season. Even in summer with some of the heatwaves we’ve had i’ll no longer go out if its approaching 30, i had heat exhaustion one year and collapsed on the landing was bed bound for a few days. We lost ten days in a row due to the beast from the east in 2018. So the income drops off. Same with ice cream cafes some of them are open all year round but youd bet they make a hell of a lot more between april & september.
Demand for service is also consistently poor for us this time of year. Every time the six nations is on the phone goes dead. in april/may/june the phones red hot. Peoples personal circumstances may dictate what hourly rate they wish to charge also, if you can only work half the week due to poor health or lets say, caring for a family member the other half of the week, you would want to earn your living in those say, 20 hours of the week. Or if youre single with no partner to have a second wage coming in. people compare window cleaners or tradesmen in general & stereotype, one quote is x, the other is Y the other is Z, they look at the three and wonder why. Competitor x could be a single 21 year old still living at home with parents, Y could be a guy with a 4 bedroom house, three kids & money disappearing as fast as they can earn it...Z Could be a semi retired person working for cash on the side of their pension. Some people need or want to earn more...& work less, or more hours, thats the beauty of self employment its supposed to be your own rules. 
We professionals work all year round...but the weather is a deciding factor as to if we can work at particular times as with bricklayers etc and so far this year we have had a Storm every week (is it 5 so far) which effects our business in the sense that we do not lose our customers, just a case of not being able to service them due to conditions. Just the way it is.

As for pricing and cicumstaces, lots of really poor pricing is from the "beer token" merchants in my opinion, who are on benefits, and service their "round " when it suits them, sort of every couple of Months. So when you canvass their area you get the my windie only charges the third of what your quoting., and there is more resistance to regular Monthly service. As for pricing/hours bet we would all like to work 4 hours a week and be able to have a comfortable lifestyle on it...but there is only a certain amount a customer is willing to pay for having their windows cleaned, so you have to put in the hours like any job.

 
We professionals work all year round...but the weather is a deciding factor as to if we can work at particular times as with bricklayers etc and so far this year we have had a Storm every week (is it 5 so far) which effects our business in the sense that we do not lose our customers, just a case of not being able to service them due to conditions. Just the way it is.

As for pricing and cicumstaces, lots of really poor pricing is from the "beer token" merchants in my opinion, who are on benefits, and service their "round " when it suits them, sort of every couple of Months. So when you canvass their area you get the my windie only charges the third of what your quoting., and there is more resistance to regular Monthly service. As for pricing/hours bet we would all like to work 4 hours a week and be able to have a comfortable lifestyle on it...but there is only a certain amount a customer is willing to pay for having their windows cleaned, so you have to put in the hours like any job.
Also i like to try and speak about the difference in the service a thorough cleaner provides vs a recreational windie. The frames are properly cleaned, all the **** out of the seals, any traffic film or grease is removed before the monthly maintence cleans begin. Also on a large estate they are 5 firms working, a couple do decent on the windows but none of them do the front doors or the small porches. To sperate myself fromt hose firms I price the houses 3£ higher when i canvas door to door but i explain that i am reliable + i rinse down the front door and brush / quick wipe wooden low the porche (only low so whole extra process takes me maximum 5-mins extra). The area has lots of builders dust so it really makes  difference that is easy to see - the house is left looking clean, customers happy, and my hourly is much higher than someone charging £10 per house

 
I think it was on here that I read a good comment about the subject of how much is charged for a job. This persons view was that you're not charging for your time but you are charging for the job!!

Looking at the conservatory and saying to the customer that you can make it look like new again for example..... £160. The customer thinks that yes, that'll be great thank you. Then he sees that it only took you 3 ish hours ish to do the job. Is the customer then going to complain about the hourly rate? I always explain to my customers that I'm charging and quoting for what the job is worth and not an hourly rate. I've never had anyone query my prices regarding this subjet.
Recently I had to explain this to a customer who cancelled because I was finished in 15mins for an average external house clean costing £16. Her reason to cancel was her previous cleaner used traditional method and was there an hour and charged £10, she thought a pound a minute was too much. ?

 
Recently I had to explain this to a customer who cancelled because I was finished in 15mins for an average external house clean costing £16. Her reason to cancel was her previous cleaner used traditional method and was there an hour and charged £10, she thought a pound a minute was too much. ?
Another customer not worth the time of day. And what on earth was the previous window cleaner doing that took an hour to clean an average external house clean? I clean trad, and that would have to be a big house! And at least £35. Maybe you should have charged her for wasting your time at £1.00 a minute! ??

 
The last cleaner probably took the tea and biscuits offered, sat down for 20 minutes and had a chat as he had known her for years. He was probably close to retirement age so only had a few jobs a day to do as well. £10 an hour being self employed is less than working for minimum wage.

 
The last cleaner probably took the tea and biscuits offered, sat down for 20 minutes and had a chat as he had known her for years. He was probably close to retirement age so only had a few jobs a day to do as well. £10 an hour being self employed is less than working for minimum wage.
@Part Timer probably right, but the customer still thinks it's all part of the clean I guess. All for just a tenner an hour.

 
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